


Heart of a Star

by SilverFlameAlchemist



Series: Jukebox Drabbles [8]
Category: Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle
Genre: Angst, Calcifer ships it, Canon Compliant, Dancing, Falling In Love, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Multi, Other, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Romance, Spells and Things, Surprise! You're In Love!, ballrooms, courting, reader/various - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 01:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10322408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFlameAlchemist/pseuds/SilverFlameAlchemist
Summary: It had begun as something simple and easy... But it didn't stay that way.Reader/Various. Separate Summaries Inside.





	1. Accidentally in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your train of thought suddenly derailed as a hand alighted onto your arm, and a warm whisper was placed to your ear.  
> "Would you be so kind as to favor me with a dance, Miss? It's a true tragedy that you should go all night looking so stunning and be unable to find a suitable partner."  
> You looked up into blue eyes brimming with mischief, and a mask covered in cobalt feathers. "It would be a pleasure to have you save me from these hungry hounds."
> 
> Howl/Reader

_Come on, come on_  
_Turn a little faster_  
_Come on, come on_  
_The world will follow after_  
_Come on, come on_  
_Because everybody's after love…_

The grand hall glittered with crystal caught in the candle light and jewels that hung in long strands around lady's necks. Rich fabrics adorned the party-goers in all the latest fashions, and masquerade masks hid people's true identities from view. The dancing couples sailed past you gracefully, and you wished you could trip just _one_ of them.

You didn't want to be here, not really.

Galas were your sister's territory, and normally you would have stayed at home, content with your books, but your mother had insisted that you attend tonight. And she'd made you wear this _ridiculous_ dress as well, so that every man within gaping distance -eligible or not- was doing just that.

You glared most of them down, determined to not set foot on the dance floor unless it was to get away, but there were a few that got much to close for comfort, and you were forced to retreat further back into the room before you punched their lights out for leering at you like that.

Your mask managed to hide your angry flush from view, and you were good enough at lying through your teeth to tell your mother and sister that everything was fine on the rare occasions that they stopped for long enough to actually ask.

But you weren't fine.

You were annoyed and angry, and ready to hit the next person who tried to…

Your train of thought suddenly derailed as a hand alighted onto your arm, and a warm whisper was placed to your ear.

"Would you be so kind as to favor me with a dance, Miss? It's a true tragedy that you should go all night looking so stunning and be unable to find a suitable partner."

You looked up into blue eyes brimming with mischief, and a mask covered in cobalt feathers.

The Raven smiled and spoke again. "Or do you not like the look of me either?"

You found yourself smiling back, slipping your arm around his. "I quite like the look of you, Sir. It would be a pleasure to have you save me from these hungry hounds."

"A damsel well worth saving," he replied with a wink, "it would be an honor." With a flourish he'd whisked you both through the crowd and onto the dance floor in time for the next dance.

 _So she said, "What's the problem baby?"_  
_What's the problem I don't know_  
_Well maybe I'm in love, think about it every time_  
_I think about it, can't stop thinking 'bout it…_

He'd taken you from the floor back to the corner you'd been using to hide in once the song was over; your progress there marked by more whispered gossiping than before, and a number of curious glances thrown your way.

"Is something the matter, my dear Raven?" You asked when you noticed he seemed slightly distracted.

He'd been a most agreeable dance partner, not only because he was a good height for you, but also because he had a near-constant running commentary on the other couples around you, and many whispered comments had been shared between the two of you as you'd danced.

He shook himself from his thoughts, snapping his attention back onto you with another flawless smile. "Merely thinking. I apologize for my neglectful behavior."

You shook your head, unable to hide a smile of your own as you saw your mother freeze in her progress towards you when one of her acquaintances stopped her in order to tell her what had happened. "You're forgiven. But I would beg your assistance in another matter, if you would be willing to save me from a situation not related to suitors."

"Oh? What else might distress my damsel?"

"My mother."

He winced. "I see. Well there are two routes of escape open to us… The balcony, where I believe you mother may not follow; or the floor again."

"Oh, the balcony, please. My mother has been known to lead in a dance in order to accomplish her own ends, and I fear she may attempt such a thing tonight."

He shepherded you towards the doorway, casting a glance back over his shoulder to where your mother was engrossed in conversation with the other woman. "Then into the night we must flee!"

 _How much longer will it take to cure this_  
_Just to cure it 'cause I can't ignore it if it's love_  
_Makes me wanna turn around and face me_  
_But I don't know nothing about love…_

You two stood in the moonlight for the better part of an hour, merely talking as the party continued on inside. You found him to be quite entertaining to talk to; his sense of humor rather akin to yours, and you fell easily into conversation over a number of things.

He could make you laugh more easily than anyone else before, and you found yourself wondering what he looked like under that feathered mask of his.

He was well dressed and well mannered, and you wondered if, under that guise, you knew him. Your mother had forced you out of your room and into a number of social events, and it would be almost comical to find that you two knew each other before this evening.

But as you watched him and listened to his voice, you thought you certainly would have remembered someone like him if you _had_ met before, because he would be terribly hard to forget.

"You seem to have gotten lost in thought, am I boring you?"

You blinked, pulling your mind back to the present, and looked up at him. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… And no, no, you're not boring me. I was just… Well, thinking."

"And what, pray, drew you in so completely?"

You fought back the blush that crept up your cheeks even though you knew he couldn't see it. "You did, actually."

He looked surprised. "You find my person so consuming?"

You nodded, no longer trusting your voice as you felt embarrassment wash over you and make you uncertain.

"I'm flattered," he replied with a smile, "but you must know that I find you similarly distracting… After all, how often are you fortunate to find a woman so particular about her dance partners?"

You laughed.

 _So I said, "I'm a snowball running"_  
_Running down into the spring_  
_That's coming all this love melting under_  
_Blue skies belting out sunlight, shimmering love…_

Your respite on the balcony was cut short by another couple moving out into the cool night air, and you quickly retreated back inside.

It seemed as though the rest of the party-goers were against you, though, because no matter where you hid you were forced out by another couple. You sighed every time you had to move, but your Raven found it most entertaining, smirking slightly every time he led you gently from the room you'd been previously occupying.

You were just slipping inside the cloak room when you felt a hand take hold of yours and pull you closer.

"Raven?"

"Damsel?"

You searched his eyes for any indicator as to why he'd just tugged you closer, but you found none. "Everything all right?"

"Perfect."

And a pair of lips descended lightly onto yours, a smirk evident on them.

 _Well baby I surrender to the strawberry ice cream_  
_Never ever end of all this love_  
_Well I didn't mean to do it_  
_But there's no escaping your love…_

It wasn't until you'd tangled your fingers in his hair that you realized why he seemed so familiar.

You pulled away from him as though he'd burned you, tugging off your mask in order to get a better look at his face, half-lit as it was from the light from the other room. " _Howl_?"

"Damsel?" He repeated in the same tone, leaning more into the light so that you could see him. "Did it really take you until now to remember me?"

You sputtered softly, trying to understand why you hadn't recognized the magician earlier. Why _no one_ had, for that matter. "You…"

"Courted your sister, yes. I imagine you remember me with lighter hair… Less polite too, I shouldn't wonder."

"You…"

"Haven't changed. You're only half right, there. I might look and sound the same, but quite a lot has happened to change the way I look on the inside." He took another half-step forward. "And my, how you've grown up… You're twice as pretty as your sister."

With no mask now to hide your blush you knew he could see it, but you didn't care. "Why did you come back? Why did you…" You couldn't even say it, your lips burning with the realization that he'd kissed you when he knew all along whom you were.

"I came back to save my little damsel from distress… Isn't that normally what the heroes do?"

"Whoever said you were a hero?"

He winced softly. "Oh now don't be like that… Only a moment ago I was your dear Raven, here to guide you into dark corners and steal sweet kisses… Can't you let me be him for tonight?"

You didn't look at him, trying to forget how he'd made your pulse race and your heart soar. "I…"

He tilted your head back up, smiling at you. "Can't you just let me fall in love?"

You frowned. "Only if I can fall right back."

"I'll be sure to catch you when you do."

 _Come on, come on_  
_Turn a little faster_  
_Come on, come on_  
_The world will follow after_  
_Come on, come on_  
_Because everybody's after love…_

_"Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows_


	2. Just The Way You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more he learned, though, the more he wanted to talk to you, to make you feel like you could trust him with those sorts of secrets too, make you laugh and cry, tease with you and joke, and be able to mouth pretty boy across the room whenever Howl pranced passed the two of you. He wanted to be your friend.
> 
> Markl/Reader

_When I see your face_  
_There's not a thing that I would change_  
 _'Cause you're amazing_  
 _Just the way you are..._

He'd been shocked when you'd introduced yourself as Master Howl's new junior apprentice.

There was an aura to you he recognized, of course, a sort of aptitude for this kind of thing, but he'd never in his life imagined that a girl like _you_ would come to a place like _this_ to learn magic.

And when you'd successfully completed your first spell, a simple charm to keep flowers fresh longer, he'd wanted to applaud you even though Howl had warned him off giving you too much praise your first few months here.

And Howl would give you tiny smiles and slow nods of approval, but Markl could tell from the way he looked at you that he was proud that _he_ got to train someone like _you_.

Not that Howl would _ever_ admit to something like that, of course.

Markl couldn't get up the courage to talk to you for the first week you worked together, and whenever you came to him with a question, he would do his best to get the words out in a tone that didn't make him sound like he had a migraine just from being in your presence.

Sophie was the only girl he had any practice talking to, on a regular non-customer basis, and you were a different creature to her entirely. It helped that you weren't smitten with your Master, and could actually laugh at him behind his back when he flounced in or out of a room.

And you tended to laugh quite a bit.

Markl would never admit it, but he learned more about you by camping out on the staircase while you cleaned up the main area and chatted to Calcifer. He struggled not to laugh when you cracked jokes with the fire demon, and he wanted to give you a hug when he heard about your past, even though it would be a bolt out of the blue, since you had no idea he'd heard any of your hushed conversations by firelight.

The more he learned, though, the more he wanted to talk to you, to make you feel like you could trust _him_ with those sorts of secrets too, make you laugh and cry and show all those emotions that Howl would frown at in an offended way if he saw you showing them in his general direction.

He wanted to tease with you and joke, and be able to mouth _pretty boy_ across the room whenever Howl pranced passed the two of you.

He wanted to be your friend.

 _Oh, her eyes, her eyes_  
_Make the stars look like they're not shining_  
 _Her hair, her hair_  
 _Falls perfectly without her trying_  
 _She's so beautiful_  
 _And I tell her everyday..._

It started out small.

Soft glances across the table while you were eating breakfast, whispered questions to one another while you worked, tea appearing by your elbow just the way you liked it without you ever having to ask.

You liked the little things.

You liked the way his eyes would light up when you moved over to him, a question on the tip of your tongue, the way he wouldn't ever look at the book you'd brought with you, but direct all his attention onto you.

The way he treated you like an equal, not a subordinate.

When Howl would leave, you'd pull up chairs to the table and chat about this and that, never anything too serious, and when you saw the dial above the door jump onto whatever color Howl had left through, Markl would snap his fingers and set everything back to where it had been before you even had a chance to get out of your chair.

And when he managed to finally articulate a sentence that didn't revolve around your work, you nearly laughed, because it was the cutest thing on the face of the planet.

"You… Would you like to go out with me sometime?" You'd stared at him until his cheeks had _blazed_ red, and he'd quickly tried to cover that blatant slip of the tongue. "Ah! I mean to get supplies! Howl hasn't said you _can't_ go out, but he never sends you, so I thought maybe you'd like to go with me the next time we need to get some things…"

You'd grinned as brightly as you possibly could. "That'd be nice, Markl, thank you!"

"You're welcome."

And that night while you cleaned, he blushed worse than he ever had before in his life because Calcifer was teasing you about it mercilessly while Markl hid on the staircase and tried not to make noise.

 _I know, I know_  
_When I compliment her she won't believe me_  
 _And it's so, it's so_  
 _Sad to think that she don't see what I see_  
 _But every time she asks me "Do I look okay?"_  
 _I say..._

"Hell."

Markl lifted his head from his own experiment and looked across the room to where you stood, hands on your hips as you frowned at the ingredients before you. "What's wrong?"

"I can't get this right."

He moved over to you instantly, stopping in the middle of his spell to do so, and peered over your shoulder. The spell you were working on wasn't particularly complex, just a little something to banish cold from a house in winter, but it was _very_ specific about which steps went where, and how you pronounced the incantation.

Normally, you could throw everything together in a bowl as long as you got the incantation right, but not this time.

"Here, it's like this." He stood next to you, only just pressing against your shoulder to give himself a little more room, and talked you through the steps, coaching you on the final incantation before you actually said it.

The little bottle on the workbench before you was suddenly filled with a fiery liquid that looked a bit like lava in the proper lighting, and you beamed at him, throwing your arms around his neck in a hug before he had a chance to shuffle back off to his own work. "Thanks! I can never get those stupid incantations right…"

"S-sure you can…" He tentatively returned the hug. "You just need a bit more practice is all."

You laughed, pulling away from him and starting to clear away your mess. "Yeah, right, a _lot_ more practice is more like."

"That's not true," his tone was sincere, and you turned to look at him as he spoke, "you're a really great magician."

You'd swear in court that the heat you felt in your face as he walked away was just the residue left over from the spell. _Obviously_.

 _Her lips, her lips_  
_I could kiss them all day if she'd let me_  
 _Her laugh, her laugh_  
 _She hates but I think it's so sexy_  
 _She's so beautiful_  
 _And I tell her everyday..._

"Markl, can you let me in?" The silence from the other side of the door made you want to roll your eyes. "It was an _accident,_ Markl, I told you that already." More silence. "Markl, come out or so help me I'll come in! Howl taught me how to pick a lock you know!"

You waited to the count of five before you glared at the lock on his bedroom door and snapped your fingers. It gave a huffy sort of click in response, and the door swung inward.

Markl's room was tidy compared to the rest of the castle, and the boy himself was curled up on the middle of his bed, legs drawn up to his chest, and forehead pressed to his knees.

"Markl?"

He jumped visibly, apparently unaware that Howl _had_ taught you how to pick locks, and peered up over his knees at you. "I'm _so sorry_." His voice was little more than a mortified whisper.

You sighed softly, closing the door behind you and moving over to the bed. You sat next to him, much in the same posture, and looked at anything but him. "I told you already, I forgive you. It's not like you _planned_ to trip down the stairs and land with your lips against mine…" You paused, then added in a teasing tone, "did you?"

He gaped at you, startled out of his sulk. "I did not!"

You laughed, then quickly tried to stop, covering your mouth with one hand, self conscious of how the sound echoed through the room.

"Don't."

You looked at him, swallowing the laughter that still threatened bubble up and out of you. "Don't what?"

"Don't try to cover up your laugh."

You blinked. "I would have thought you didn't want me laughing at you."

"No, it's not that…" His voice sank several octaves, and you never would have heard him if he wasn't sitting right next to you. "You have a beautiful laugh… Don't try to cover it up."

You stared at him for a moment before your curiosity got the better of you. "Any other bits of me you find beautiful? Just for future reference, I mean."

Eyes you hadn't known could look so hungry raked up and over you before they came to rest on your own, the faintest of smirks slipping onto his lips. "Every bit of you."

 _Oh you know, you know, you know_  
_I'd never ask you to change_  
 _If perfect's what you're searching for_  
 _Then just stay the same_  
 _So don't even bother asking if you look okay_  
 _You know I'll say..._

It started out small.

With soft touches to the small of your back as he came to check on your work, light brushes of skin on skin as he directed your hands in the proper way for one bit of a spell or another, the gentle kisses pressed to your temple, cheek, shoulder, when Howl wasn't looking.

You liked to think he didn't know, even though there was no denying the knowing glint in his eyes when he saw the two of you together. You liked to think that you and Markl were the only two in the world when you sat out on one of the balconies and looked up at the stars as you shared each other's warmth, but there was always that nagging sensation that _someone_ was watching you.

Usually Calcifer, ready to ruin a perfectly blissful moment with one sarcastic comment or another.

When you went places through that door though, you knew that reality and work and everything in your lives that anchored you and kept you from drifting away over the horizon was just on the other side of the bland wood, and you could go back to it whenever you needed to with just a turn of a handle.

Markl still called you beautiful.

You still told him he was clearly delusional, or suffering from bad eyesight, or a love spell, or-

Markl still cut you off mid-rant with a roll of his eyes and a gentle kiss.

You still refused to complain about the treatment, and even went so far as to encourage it.

Especially the eye rolling.

 _And when you smile_  
_The whole world stops and stares for a while_  
 _'Cause girl you're amazing_  
 _Just the way you are..._

_"Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars_

**Author's Note:**

> Howl's Moving Castle and All Related Characters belong to: Diana Wynne Jones & Hayao Miyazaki


End file.
